Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009)

These 3-D CGI kids films are just falling from the sky. “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” is a tongue-in-cheek tale of an inventor (Bill Hader) who creates a gizmo-thingy machine that turns a cloud into a food factory. Thick, juicy hamburgers fall first. Then pizza, ice cream, hot dogs, and all sorts of foods kids love to munch on. No asparagus here, and the whole plot rests on how nasty sardines are to eat, smell and touch. The film is perfectly pitched toward young children, who ought to delight in the preschool color scheme and Play Doh textures. The plot lags and sputters to reach 75 minutes, with an over-the-top climax that grates, but silly gags and a huge serving of parental love trounce any shortcomings. James Caan as Dad steals the show. B